Thursday, 30 May 2013

Early preparations for the
burial rites for late legendary literary icon began last Tuesday when by Igbo
socio-political Think-tank, Aka Ikenga held a day of tributes for the late man of letters, Prof. Chinua
Achebe at Nigeria Institute for International Affairs, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Friends, colleagues and admirers of the literary icon extolled the virtues of
Achebe as a man of courage, a man who lived life to the full.

Also, Nigerians, especially the young ones, were urged to
emulate his exemplary life, a man with whom humility, integrity, courage sat
well, just as the countdown to his burial on May 23rd starts today, with
activities in Abuja before his arrival on Tuesday and his final journey to his
resting place in his hometown, Ogidi, Anambra State.

Among prominent Igbo sons that paid tribute to Achebe
included Amb. Arthur Mbanefo, Profs. Anya O. Anya, George Obiozor and Uzodinma
Nwuala, Anthony Merini and Nnabuife. Others were President, Government College,
Umuahia Old Students Association, Mr. C.N.C. Nweke and many other old boys and
dignitaries.

Also, it was an event that was spiced with musical
rendition, poetry rendition in Igbo and English. At the forefront of the
musical performance was the post-graduate class of Performing Arts Department,
University of Lagos, which rendered several Igbo choral songs. Prof. Nnabuife’s
rendition of elegiac poem in Igbo was a moving, superb and effortless in the
classic manner of ancient griots, which even the late Achebe would have
applauded in its edification of the Igbo language as a fitting language for
peotry. Punctuated by the accompaniment of the local Igbo flute dexterously
weaving in and out among the stanzas, the performance could best be described
as a fitting funereal for the great wordsmith it was composed for as it mourned
the man and played up the havoc death wreaks on mankind both great and small.

And as the performance progress, the unmistakable ekwe sound, not unlike how Achebe played it up chapter two
of his now famous Things Fall Apart
joined the poetic rendition to further heighten the mournful cadence of the
performance.

In his tribute, Mbanefo commended Achebe for his iconic
status in letters that transcended Nigeria and Africa to the wider world. He
said it was a thing of pride that Achebe as an Igbo son was acclaimed world-wide,
and added that Nigerians should not lose sight of the values of integrity,
humility and excellence that Achebe represented and transmitted in his works.

He noted, “He was the elephant not only of Nigeria and
Africa but of the entire world. Anybody who had Achebe knew that he had
somebody. His death is a thing of tears and sorrow but it also causes a lot of
reflection on our part. What he depicted was not a myth; he tried to practice
what he wrote, which is very hard in this country. He played honest politics;
he stood out. He was one that didn’t give in; he believed in himself and was
truthful. He stood straight to the end. In a country where people beg for
national honours, Achebe rejected them because the hands that wanted to give
him such honours were not clean. We have lost a gem”.

Also, Prof. Anya said Achebe, his neighbour at University of
Nigeria, Nsukka, was the greatest literary artist of the 20th century Africa
produced, adding, “Achebe does not belong to the dead but the living. This is a
day of reflection, for us to see what lessons we can take away from his life”.

The iconic economist wondered why Igbo did not honour their
own when they were still alive, starting from foremost historian and first Vice
Chancellor of University College, Ibadan, Prof. Kenneth Dike and another
foremost academics, Prof. Eni Njoku. He said these legendary men of letters
deserved to be laureates in their fields but that world politics played them
out of such considerations.

Anya said Achebe’s burial date of May 23 was just six days
away from May 29th, a symbolic date in Igbo’s history, when the 1966 progrom
started in the North of Nigeria, which eventually ushered in the bitter civil
war that decimated the lives of Nd’Igbo. He also linked the passing of Odumegu
Ojukwu and Achebe in close proximity at this time as not mere happenstance, but
some sort of closure for Nd’Igbo, as the past drawing the curtain against the
past for a new chapter and renaissance of Igbo people.

Prof. Obiozor, hilariously explosive, stated that the
greatness of any nation was determined by the quality of the sons and daughters
she produced. He praised Achebe’s greatness as an exceptional one that trailed
him from the beginning to the end, which started at Umuahia as a first class
student. He harped on the injustice that has continued to be the hallmark of
Nigeria and stressed that until the injustice was addressed in the land, peace
would continue to elude Nigeria.

Earlier, President of Aka Ikenga, Chief Goddy Uwazurike extolled the virtues of Achebe
as a man whose fame far preceded him. He pointed out the celebration his death
came to represent all over the world and said Igbo was lucky to give such a
rare gift to the world.